In more recent news, while looking to use up my FSA dollars, since I wasn't going to have an FSA for 2017. I came across a site offering the option to generate full-time intermediate or readers from my prescription. Full-time intermediate being the suggested for computer work, which has been causing lots of problems when I'm wearing progressives. Finding I have to sit closer to the screen, which makes it hard to see all of its 23" or 27"....or straining to see all of it because the tiny spot that's intermediate distance is too small...

Well, the full-time intermediates I got have been great. Wondering if I should get full-time readers to help with my Kindle/iPad usage.... have until the end of April to use up the last tiny bit of my FSA rollover. (~$25.) Wonder if it's possible to get intermediate/readers lenses done? Perhaps as a bifocal.

The only downside, is I got it with a gradient tint...forgetting that it's too dark at the top for my need, probably should've gotten a light uniform tint. Though as I recall, it wasn't an option for the site I had ordered from, and trying another site didn't work as they didn't support the full-time intermediate option and generating the numbers myself couldn't be verified by an upload of my prescription...(wonder if I should ask for a formal prescription for intermediates next time....)

06/03/15

Guess I've been neglecting my blog in more ways than I thought...hadn't updated this progression since my post back in October 2013. But, have two recent prescriptions to add to the mix....one with my regular optometrist, and a second done as part of seeing a neuro-opthamologist at the Mayo Clinic as part of my ongoing quest to see if I have SCA, what it might be, and what its future holds for me....

Felt like there should've been a Feb 2014 in there somewhere.....but I don't have access to all my files at the moment, something I'm going to want to do something about when I get home. But, nothing in my usual cloud places ....

But, wonder which is right and which should I get in glasses....well, actually, I had already ordered new glasses after the May eye exam. Had they been ready in about 7 days, I'd be wearing them right now. But, didn't get the call about them until yesterday. Wonder if I'd get new glasses with the latest prescription now....there is a Lenscrafters here.... or wait until I get home. The new prescription actually looks like its in the same ballpark as what I had been told....hadn't actually looked at my May prescription until just now as well...

Meanwhile...does the Spinocerebellar Ataxia quest continue...

But, first where should I go for supper tonight?

Well, I opted to not visit Lenscrafters at all, though I had several wonderful suppers at Chester's Kitchen & Bar, including once from 'Garden Patio Seating' (where I was kittycater-corner from Lenscrafters.)

When I inquired back home in Manhattan, it was explained that the prescription needed to be converted from positive scale to negative scale to compare to last month's prescription. After conversion, the difference was considered within the range of what would happen if I were to get tested every day.

According to this blog, I received this PowerSource 400 on January 21st, 2008 - click here

In answer to the question at the end of that post, the answer was yes. There are 5 other PowerSource 400's in service in my home.

Anyways...back on October 28th (my 45th birthday ), about an hour after getting into bed there was a power blink....I recall being woken by the PowerSource 400 in the bedroom, but I was still able to breath, so I eventually went back to sleep. I woke in the morning to find that half my network had been down for quite some time, though I didn't see any alerts on the security system control pad.

This being the "network closet" UPS...it was providing backup power for my DSL modem, its associated router, the switch that connects the various rooms in my home together, namely the "living room" and the "back bedroom". Not sure which AP the "side bedroom" was connected to. Though the power outage knocked out my laser printer, which I haven't felt the urge to find out why. Really need to work on finding a more accessible location for it, or work on reversing the entropy in my nuclear room(s)... especially since my other printer is circling the drain, and not sure when I'll get around to getting the new inkjet printer that I've been eyeing.

Restarting the UPS, was when I finally got alerts from my security system. It was a combination of events that happened when I cycled power and events that had been waiting for the return of connectivity. The security system's primary connection is broadband, but it also has a phone line for backup (there's a cellular option, but its been out of stock whenever I've felt the urge to splurge for it....though I kind of have cellular backup anyways....)

It was the return of power that caused it to report loss and recovery of the phone line, along with the queued messages of broadband and power outages, with restores of all... Its built in backup battery had kept it up during the outage (approx 8.5 hours). The phone line from the base station is connected to an ObiHai OBi110. Which has an FXO port to allow selection of analog phone service, or in the event an outage pass through to this. In normal operation the OBi110 is making my Google Voice available to my regular phones, where the OBI110 is configured to use my other Internet gateway. The FXO port is connected to a Cobra PhoneLynx Bluetooth Cell to Home Phone Adapter which is associated with a phone with AT&T prepaid service.

Though I plan to at a later date replace both the OBi110 and PhoneLynx and cellphone with an At&t Wireless Home Phone Base. Which I have sitting, waiting for when I get around to it.

The plan is the OBi110 will move to the living room for use there, though its in associating with the planned inkjet printer replacement.

So, its time to replace the batteries...guess I'll do research on where I can get a pair. Hmmm, it uses the same kind as the pair I had replaced in my SmartUPS 1400 back on October 10th (it went around October 5th, and I ordered them on the 6th). The site provides discounts if you buy multiples. I got 5% off for getting 2, would've gotten 7% off for getting 4, or 8% off for getting 6 (9% for 8 and 10% for 10+).

I hesitate, since I'm waiting to see how the recent problem with BillMeLater goes...so needs to be sometime after Nov 5th to order. Meanwhile a storm comes in on November 3rd, and power is blinking like crazy...and I'm constantly restarting the PowerSource 400. Finally I take it out of service, and everything is just in a regular surge strip. Things remain stable (dbox stayed up straight) until this morning. But, feel that I need to put the PowerSource 400 back into service before my annual Thanksgiving trip.

After much procrastination, and lots of searching. I settle on ordering 4 such batteries from an eBay seller on November 14th. Plan to replace the batteries in my second PowerSource 400 soon, since it was purchased on December 31st, 2008 and provides backup power for my CPAP. (see here).

And finally, this morning, I decided that I've put it off too long and to replace it this morning.

Which was a challenge....

There was supposed to be a page 3, but all I had typed was the page break...so had to figure out how to open it up again. Aside from the 4 corner screws, I remembered that there's a screw behind the sticker in the middle. But, I forgot the rivets in the bottom, and that both parts need to be extracted.

Once opened, I started to disconnect the batteries, and once again threw sparks and added another mark to my screwdriver. Taking a step back, I decided there's an order of operation involved here. The answer is start with the outside connections, and then the inside ones. And, then reverse it. This time I knew the side panels interlock with the batteries to help lock them into place, so made sure the wires were clear, I noted that the neural wire for the front outlet had a kink, I made sure that all the wires were in the channel while buttoning things back up.

Surrounding this, was the challenge of getting it out from behind my headboard, though while I was down there, I found a couple missing packages of mask diffusers, I knew I wasn't using them up that quickly, but couldn't figure out why I kept running out. There was one Xyrem pill bottle, I had one night knocked both down...luckily while the empty (first dose) one went all the way down, the other was just wedged between mattress and headboard in upright position. Since I use bottles longer than a month, I usually go by how grungy the caps get...since I customize the bottles, so I can tell the two apart by touch, which matters when one has a larger dose than the other....and the caps get grunge depending on how many nights I overfill (have always had a problem measuring drinks that way.... ) Or how often they get tipped...

There were also as expected a bunch of nasal inhalers of various types...such as ones from: Olbas, Benzedrex, and Vicks.

Wonder if there's enough time to get a new pair of glasses online cheap, before my upcoming trip (Narcolepsy Network Conference). And, to use up the remainder of my limited use FSA, which is kind of surprising to have last this long this year. Probably because of the unstable nature of my eyeglass prescription this year, I didn't get what I really wanted in a second pair of glasses this year. Maybe I'll finally get around to it next year....

Just as long as I can see the best that I can for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who!

09/13/13

Well, not yet...though I've been having trouble seeing more and more the last few weeks. And, there was a evidentally measurable change in the right eye.

But, today's exam was to see if I might have Glaucoma. Had gotten a retina imaging test back in February, did another today and things look the same, so probably not Glaucoma. Though today my field of vision testing was bad all over, like a more general loss of vision.

Since the shape of my cornea has changed over the last 3 exams, he suspects its changed again though the test wasn't during the initial testing of the appointment. It got done before I left.

Gonna try some eye drops for 2-3 weeks to see if things get better, worse or not.

06/21/13

After I got my new glasses after my eye exam back on February 8th, things were great...but gradually they started getting back again, which was some what distressing. Especially since I had also gotten that call about the results of the Retinal Thickness Analyzer (?) showing some thinning and that I needed to plan a follow up test in about 6 months. At first the vision would start getting bad as I was heading home from work, and it subtle...though it would get pretty bad about mid evening.

But, then it was starting to get pretty bad around mid afternoon at work, so I decided I needed to get my eyes rechecked. In the inbetween time of making the appointment and the appointment today, I now feel that my vision starts getting bad before I leave for work, sometimes wonder if I should even bother (though I end up going in anyways and struggle until quitting time...)

There's a slight change in the right eye, and even less of a change in the left eye....reading power another step up....

Seems a really strange jump and not really sure how to explain it. In what feels like an unusually rarity in my life, there hadn't been any medication changes from when I started having problems last fall to no, and no new diagnosis....though the latest problem that I've yet to receive a diagnosis for started mid-October....and it in November that my vision started getting bad (though with LISA and my mom's 70th birthday coming up, and thinking that I wanted to wait until I had FSA money...I had put off getting the eye exam. Plus it wasn't as bad as it has been lately...

As to why the shift...they had done a cornea surface mapping as they have done in all previous exams....and in comparison...my cornea surface was much more pointed in February while my current surface is similar to how it was back in November 2011. Not really sure how that came to be though. But, Optometrist said he would order up new lenses and that there would be no charge. Hopefully, they'll be able to get new lenses already pre cut for my glasses, as these are now my only pair....not having kept any of my old pairs this time around given the big change. (and not yet having gotten around to getting a second pair, because around when I was starting to think that I should get them...was when my vision started getting bad....)

Not sure where I'm at on getting a second pair now....will probably shoot for getting them before the upcoming NN Conference for sure.

Hopefully its not some kind of periodic variation, possibly similar to the variation in my sleep....which appears to still exist even with my Narcolepsy being pretty well controlled with medication now.

06/14/13

A while back I was having trouble updating transactions in my TIAA-CREF account. I used to update my entering each transaction by hand every so often, but then a few years ago (when I rolled over a Rollover IRA, which I had parked my 401k of my previous employer, as the invisible money fee was huge....share counts would drop every month, with no explanation in the account statements.) I let them generate the funds I should spread my retirement into...which makes it much harder to be entering transactions by hand.

I had tried the Quicken download option, but the dates of the transactions didn't line up with my pay days or the website's transaction history. So, making the download match what I was entering was tedious, as was not entering any by hand and adjusting after download. Also, the download likes to splatter my register with placeholders, and the complain that the placeholders are missing information so it can't do gain calculations.

So, originally, I'd only like invest in 6 +/- 1 funds. Basically a fund out each slice and some multiple of 5% rather than the specific percentage an investment tool had suggested for me.

Now, I have my retirement funds spread of 12 funds in my Mandatory Plan, and 19 Funds in my Voluntary Plan (since the Voluntary has access to more choices than those specified by pension administrator.) The Mandatory Plan is funded by the mandatory 5.5% that comes out of every paycheck, plus an 8.5% match from employer. While the Voluntary Plan is money that came from other sources, which could be in the form of additional deductions from pay. But, in my case it represents what was in my previous 401k.

So, I just let the Quicken download be as it is....deleting most of the placeholder transactions, because the only transaction that doesn't appear anywhere is the share count growth of my TIAA-CREF Traditional Annuity. But, I just change them into reinvestment actions with a price of $1. Not sure how I would get quicken to tell me what the gain/loss % is from that....

Somebody had described how to do the math to get include re-investments into the overall gain, perhaps I'll have to look into that someday.

Anyways, I noticed that I somehow hadn't done a download in almost 2 months (since the download ranges are 30, 60, 90 or All), so I try to do it about every 30 days. Quicken doesn't seem too bright on knowing transactions that overlap the previous download aren't new, and it'll refuse to let me manually match them with the correct transaction, since it the transaction had already been matched (or created by a previous download). So, I have to delete some of the new transactions, along with all the placeholder entries...before accepting the rest.

Normally this works great....even if the dates happen a day or two before payday. It makes the transfer from my associated cash account for my Mandatory Plan...sure it might go negative...but it all zeros out in the end, usually.

But, then last fall, there was a weird extra $3 and change in my cash account. I kept looking for a missing transaction, but didn't see one. Eventually, I found that when it had done my annual birthday re-balancing...where it sells parts of some funds and Quicken transfers into my cash account, an then buys amounts in the other funds with Quicken transferring out of my cash account. It didn't do that when it added to my Wells Fargo Advantage Growth Fund Institutional. I fixed it by hand, somehow and continued on my way.

02/08/13

So, since my Narcolepsy Diagnosis, I've been having vision problems...since September. I suspected that some of it was due to my medication, and I did find that I was right...but learned from Facebook before the NN Conference in October that what I was experiencing was more associated as a side effect of my stimulant than the other. I might be starting too strong with it in the morning.

Making a change on that front, brought about an almost immediate improvement....and while at the conference, I learned of another thing to adjust and that also made for a pretty quick improvement.

However, I still felt that my prescription had changed...but didn't feel like I could get an eye exam and new glasses done in time for LISA, so I put it off....except I guess I put it off too long...because I finally got the eye exam today....but, I'm off to Gallifrey One next week. Not enough time to get a new pair of glasses. Manhattan, KS needs an 1 hour place....though do they do computer progressives in an hour? No, I need my own time machine.

With the updated equipment at there...they could show me very quickly what my vision is like with old prescription and new prescription, and how things compare with and without the reading power.

The large improvement in my right eye, seems to have contributed to generally poor vision distance and computer.

How will I survive now through Gallifrey One ??? We shall see...perhaps

Wonder if this will be the year to finally get prescription sunglasses, hopefully I won't be buying 3 pairs of eyeglasses in one year...to only have one good pair still. Though the big change also means I don't have any spares....

12/08/12

After years and years, of saying that I'm going to do it....I finally did it....I got a home security system.

Last couple of years, my HH had been getting particularly disturbing....I thought about doing it then, at least I got my locks rekeyed, which helped on the anxiety level after any particularly disturbing HH.

I had kind of registered the idea that I would definitely get a home security system if I should get a Narcolepsy diagnosis and open me to its particular treatment option.

Well, I got the Cataplexy Dx on May 15th, and the Narcolepsy Dx on July 12th. And, eventually I was to start treatment....July 26th.

After the Cataplexy Dx, I ramped up my intent to get a system. I noticed that AAA offers a discounted package with Lifeshield. So, I opted to get that package for my condo. Along the way, the base package was more than adequate to cover the basic exit/entry points. But, I opt to get a bunch more sensors to provide extra coverage around my medication fridge and medication safe.

It doesn't get me much of a discount off of my condo insurance (since the main structure is covered by a master policy from the HOA) to get any real savings for a security system, it needs to be cellular backed. The cellular gateway option is like $270, so the pay back is there...though it is on my list of addons to get.

Now instead of subjecting some poor random forum to a long rambling thought, I will try to consolidate those things into this blog where they can be more easily ignored profess to be collected thoughts from my mind.